Making increasing use of “internet exchange platforms”, such as LinkedIn, to enhance communication between European Members, an update on speaker and delegate numbers for the forthcoming IFHE 4th European Conference.
A look at the organisation’s finances, and an examination of the current and future work of its Working Groups, were all on the agenda at the 9th IFHE-Europe Council meeting held in Paris, reports David Whiteley, who attended as a representative of IHEEM’s Membership and International Affairs Committee. Chairman, Leo Van Namen, from the NVTG in the Netherlands, began by welcoming the Council to his last meeting in the role, after which the Minutes of the 8th IFHE Europe Council meeting, held last November, were agreed and accepted without amendment. Attendees included Anne Buxeda, one of the organisers of the 4th European Conference on Healthcare Engineering (ECHE) in Paris, which started the following day. Jacques Roos, President of IHF, the organising body for the ECHE event, explained that 50% of the speakers would be from outside France, while over 300 delegates, including 100 from other countries, had registered. Support levels from the different member countries, however, varied significantly, with the IFHE EU chairman’s request for at least 20 delegates from each member organisation not realised. Of the “90-plus” companies involved, “the vast majority” were French, making it likely the event would result in a deficit, which would have to be borne by the IHF. This, Jacques Roos said, was food for thought for Swiss colleagues at the IHS, who have agreed to host the 5th ECHE Conference in 2013. A discussion on enhancing collaboration between European members led to the suggestion that an information exchange platform, such as LinkedIn, be used as a simple news/ noticeboard/information exchange mechanism. The existing Working Groups were discussed, and the future for further European-wide studies considered. Jacques Roos advised that presentations from the Working Groups were included within the 4th Conference programme. A presentation by Hans-Peter Aebischer from IHS highlighted the various proposals, ideas, and preparations, so far for the 5th ECHE conference in Berne, Switzerland, for which provisional dates are 9-11 April 2013. On the finance front, while there were still some outstanding fees for 2011 from some member countries, the balance as at April 2011 was e16,554. It was considered that there should be some degree of external audit of the Accounts, a process which it was agreed would be undertaken. APEH, representing Portugal, had not paid its fees for the past three years, and the Council agreed to recommend to the IFHE Executive that the organisation be de-registered. The chairman then introduced Jacques Roos as incoming chairman, and the Executive Committee was re-constituted, with a view to the first meeting being this November (at the Medica exhibition). The next meeting of the full IFHE-Europe Council will coincide with the IFHE Conference in Norway in 2012. It was also reported at the meeting that the ÖVKT in Austria has a new President, Dip Ing Martin Krammer.
